Effective Communication in an Organization - Case Study Example

Effective Communication in an Organization

Introduction

Proficient management is a prerequisite for the success of a business. Efficient communication is very essential in the management for a smooth running of a corporation. The manager ensures that employees and senior stakeholders follow proper and efficient communication channels (Guffey & Loewy, 2010). A Senior Manager is tasked with formulating formal channels of communication within the corporate. In addition, the Manager effectively and efficiently manages the tools and systems pertinent for communication in the organization. Moreover, the manager also ensures amicable solutions for communication problems in the event of a misunderstandings. Therefore, for a business entity to thrive and attain maximum growth, both internal and external communication must be well structured. Unless this factor is timely, direct and efficient, the employees and other key stakeholders may fail to discharge their required roles in an organization as expected.

Discussion in this excerpt assesses the communication strategies and management of internal emerging issues in a corporate. A focus would be based on the communication and management patterns of the Pacifica Hotels Company. Specifically, the manager of the corporate would provide an analysis of the communication protocol employed by the company that has seen the corporate scale higher in maintaining sales and sustained growth. An interview would be held by the manager in a way to obtain information that relates to the communication problems that the company faces. In the end, effective and realistic recommendations would be suggested to the manager as a way to ensure effective communication in the corporate.

Strategy in Communication, Ability, and Media Competency relating to the Company

• History and Background of the Manager

The management structure of the Pacifica Hotels Company defines clearly the roles of all the senior stakeholders in the hospitality firm. Under the leadership of Matt Marquis as the CEO and the president, the roles he has emulated in the corporate has enabled the corporate to achieve growth in the hospitality and the real estate services.

Matt Marquis as the senior manager commenced his career in management at the Wall Street, working in the Dean Witter Realty Inc. His primary roles were specific in asset management in a varied estate portfolio controlled by the company. At the company, he managed to control the asset holdings of more than one billion USD (Misuraca, 2010). On another aspect, he worked at Investcorp International where he was tasked with the creation of orders in the real estate department of the company. Here, he controlled investment in the property of more than $ 700 million.

By the year 1997, he joined the Pacifica Real Estate Group as the manager of the assets, especially in the real estate department. He worked in the company until the year 2000. Together with his father, they acquired the Pacifica Real Estate Group and changed it to the current Pacifica Hotels Company. Presently, the company provides real estate services as well as hospitality products in the range of eateries, lodging, conferences, and various accommodation services. This dynamism in the business operations has seen the company achieve massive growth in revenue and the range of outlets that they serve to their esteemed clients.

Mr. Marquis as the manager draws his skills from a well-established education platform. He acquired his education from Brigham Young University with a BA in Communication and minored in Business. Moreover, Mr. Marquis successfully attended and completed a seminar in Harvard’s Families in Business that in doubt acquainted him with skills in business management. To add to the above, he has played roles on the boards of various groups in the community, amongst them being Cold Springs School Foundation, United Boys and Girls Clubs and the Autism Society of America. Furthermore, he has and is still a board affiliate of the Young President’s Organization. He has been in the management in the hotel since 2000 as the CEO confirming 15 years in complete management dominance (Misuraca, 2010).

The hotel is a proprietor to twenty-six hotels at the coast of California and Florida. Its location is strategic as a preferred destination for both the local and international tourists. The influx of tourists has made the hotel achieve an annual increment of 3.6% by 2014 and as a result positioned the corporate to make profits. The annual income for the company is rated at $ 160 million, but the manager anticipates an increment of $ 180 million in the preceding year. This company has been the preference since it has achieved greater success despite its diversification in a range of services offered other than the real estate.

The services provided by the company together with its outlets positions this corporate as a larger business. As such, the management need to disseminate and articulate information timely and with utmost precision as a way to ensure smooth operation of the company. More so, with the provision of the real estate services, a well-structured communication platform is handy in such an extensive business network (Robbins et al., 2013). The manager’s role would among others entail establishing and managing communication networks and tools to achieve desired results.

• Communication Strategies for Mr. Marquis and How He Deals with the Barriers

The expansion and enlargement of prospect have necessitated the development of elaborate communication strategies. Mr. Marquis has adopted an open communication system in which he freely discusses pertinent issues within the organization. This is common especially during the sectional, departmental, and the general meetings held within the organization. The employees from various departments provide their views on the way the organization operates.

Apparently, two-way communications also appear to be a norm to the organization. The strategy means that the top-down and bottom-up communication management are effected within the departments of the Pacifica Hotel. During this scenario, the senior department heads and supervisors communicate freely without any boundary (Leathers & Eaves, 2015). The legacy of the corporate is built on the point that any member of the organization has a substantial role in steering the growth of the organization and that their opinions must be taken into account. This strategy generates inclusiveness of all the team players in the company and therefore build their trust in the enterprise. As the manager alluded, this strategy as well makes the employees own the company and hence this has been reflected in the way they do their work which has seen the organization pride on profitability and growth.

According to Mr. Marquis, the team faces numerous barriers to communication. These range from a misunderstanding due to the influx of parallel and contradictory information availed within the organization. Information overload also means that not all that has been sent would be effectively read and comprehended by the members (Newberry & Conrad, 2010). Poor retention of the information disseminated also culminates depending on the mood of target employees. Mr. Marquis has however devised various strategies to curb these communication barriers in the Pacifica Hotels Company.

In the first instance, all the information be it written or via the electronic form must first be assessed by the communications department of the organization. This information is reviewed, edited, and confirmed authentic before distribution. Moreover, the communication office is the central point where all the information in the structure emanates (Misuraca, 2010). This deters any rumor that the organization may be subjected to. Also, barriers to communication are managed by effective planning and proper establishment of communication framework within the organization. Most importantly, the hierarchy in the organization occasioned by the employee orientation entails that the employees at the Pacifica Hotel Company are directed to listen to communication from the communications office.

Occasionally, the employees at the organization attend seminars and training organized by the management. Some of the training are geared towards improving their listening and communication skills as a way to improve their efficiency. Moreover, to minimize on sematic obstacles in information transmission, the department in charge with the announcement is instructed by the manager to desist from using jargons or complex languages so that the message gets to the intended audience with minimal confusion.

• Mr. Marquis’ Non-verbal Communication

Other than verbal communication, hand gestures, body language, eye contact, and touch emerge as some of the non-verbal communications used by the manager. Mr. Marquis uses these forms of communication when making presentations especially during a general meeting or at a staff briefing. Mostly, the manager uses the above forms of non-verbal communication to stress and affirm certain messages deemed important to the organization (Leathers & Eaves, 2015). It eludes in-depth importance of the subject matter, and the target audience is bound to understand the seriousness of the issue. For example in instances where there are missing luggage for the clients in the lodging rooms, then the manager may address the members of the department on the importance of being careful with clients in a bid to create their loyalty. Moreover, the posture and the language tone reinforces what the manager communicates to other members during a roundtable meeting.

• Effectiveness of the Written Communication to Mr. Marquis

Mr. Marquis points at internal memos, minutes, e-mails, and letters as forms of written communication employed in the organization. The corporate sends emails to employees in a given department or all the intended recipient of the message. However, the most commonly used written communication is the internal memo and the letters. This written information supersedes the oral communication as they are authentic and can be later used for references (Guffey & Loewy, 2010). Moreover, the manager saves time as all the employees can simply read memos, e-mails, and letters without the need to convene a meeting. In addition, Mr. Marquis prefers this form as it is devoid of distortion and misinterpretation by the members of the Pacifica Hotels Company.

• Manager’s Effective Use of the Communication Technologies

Pacifica Hotels Company hassignificantly embraced the latest technology for effective and faster communication. Most importantly, the hotel adopts the use of e-mails and the online web portals that the clients to the hotel use to book and make reservations (Güngör et al., 2011). The employees are as well updated on the latest development in the hotel through the use of cell phones for voice messages and the electronic mail. During seminars and meetings, varied presentation platforms are used.

The organization sometimes prefer teleconferencing especially when the management finds it time-consuming to hold meetings. Also, coupled with over twenty-six branches of the hotel, the manager prefers the use of teleconferencing as a platform for disseminating information. The technique proves cost effective for the organization as well as time saving. Correspondingly, the agency also adopts the use of video conferencing when offering training to the employees of the organization.

Ability and Means to Persuade

• The Manager’s use of Persuasive Language

Mr. Marquis denotes that the communication strategy in the Pacifica Hotel Company assumes an inclusive pattern. This implies that the employees and the stakeholders are at liberty to communicate with the management. The manager has embraced this strategy by using persuasive language to both the employees and the clients to the company. He takes a keen interest in listening to these stakeholders (Petty & Cacioppo, 2012). Furthermore, Mr. Marquis alludes that the employees are important persons in the organization and that failure to listen to them as well as the lack of use of the persuasive language would alter the way they work. Consequently, lack of motivating employee would arise.

The manager also uses the persuasive language in addressing the concerns of the employees. For example, in the company, the manager attest to occasions in which an employee or groups of employees may opt to attend a seminar. Nonetheless, with the use of persuasive language, the manager has instantly explained the reasons attributed to costs where their permission failed to be granted. In many instances, e-mails and letters have been used by Mr. Marquis to address the plight of these employees.

• Effectiveness of the Manager’s Listening and Feedback Skills

In consequence, Mr. Marquis seems to be overwhelmed by the amount of work he has to oversee. Coupled with several trips and conferences he has to attend, he may fail adequately to address all the communication concerns from the employees as well as customers. However, from the interview with him, he tries as much as possible to reply to the requests by clients and staff through the e-mail or in a written letter (Robbins et al., 2013). Within the organization, he makes an attempt to reach out to all the employees and respond to their plight through a written memo. The two-way strategy of communication adopted by the organization prompts the leader to pay attention and provide responses to the workers and other stakeholders, in particular for a one-on-one conversation.

Conflict Resolution Skills

• The Manager’s Conflict Style

Within the Pacifica Hotels Company, both the hospitality, financial, and the real estate departments have distinctive functions that directly influence the operations of the corporate. The employees within these departments sometimes are subject to conflict due to misunderstandings. As the manager, Mr. Marquis is tasked with offering amicable solutions to the parties in feuds for a reconciliation to be achieved. Occasionally, conflict arises in the Pacifica Hotels Company as a result of the poor interpersonal relationship, conflict of interest, and misunderstanding of roles particularly during exhibitions and other major events held by the Company.

As a way to limit the proliferation of the conflict, Mr. Marquis attempts as much as possible to solve the matter at hand (Ma, 2007). Negotiation and arbitration are some of the styles the manager adopts to bring the conflicting parties to a resolution. Moreover, to attain neutrality, the manager tends to use co-operation with the employees or senior stakeholders to the organization involved in a conflict. In such a scenario, the manager gets to understand the parties in conflict, and together, they formulate a resolution to the dispute.

• How the Manager Deals with the Conflicts in the Organization

Though conflicts in the Pacifica Hotels Company are rare, rules and regulations have been laid down as a remedy to the emerging conflicts. Systems have been streamlined such that the causes of conflicts including duplication or misunderstanding of roles and responsibilities have been fully defined (Ma, 2007). Each employee whether new or old has well-stipulated obligations to minimize interference.

Negotiation emerges as the most common and efficient way in which Mr. Marquis adopts to solve misunderstanding. The parties in conflict are summoned by the manager who gives each time to express their conflict of interest. A decision is then made that appeals to all parties in a bid to end the stalemate.

Recommendations for Improvement

The Pacifica Hotels Company has made strides in achieving growth and profitability in America and even beyond. This can be attributed to proper coordination and communication adopted by Mr. Marquis as the manager. However, for the company to facilitate efficient and faster information delivery as well as instant feedbacks, the adoption of the latest trends in communication is paramount. A shift to the use of mobile and portable devices would greatly enhance effective communication. For instance, the use of devices such as smartphones and tablets as opposed to laptops would help to convey information faster.

Nevertheless, the adoption of cloud services in communication in the company could also save the company from the finances allocated for the mobile communication. Moreover, the cloud system as well offers a platform for the manager to interact with the guests and clients to the hotel (Güngör et al., 2011). Due to several outlets of the hotels and real estate services, Mr. Marquis needs to adopt the Web Real-Time Communications as a way to offer efficient video conferencing for the employees during training as well as for clients in informing them on the range of products and services provided by the company. Finally, the company needs to allocate part of the funds in developing its IT solutions particularly on the bandwidth to ensure reliability and faster transfer of data both to the employees as well as the clients to the company.